


One For Sorrow, Two For Joy

by WhyArentIBlessd



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Awesome Sarah (Labyrinth), F/M, Family Drama, adorable head-butting, battles, forced coddling, stubborn Sarah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-11 21:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3332963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyArentIBlessd/pseuds/WhyArentIBlessd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Everyone, thank you so much for being so enthusiastic about my story. ^^ I've been in a major writer's block for the longest time, and this is just a little attempt to get out of a dull slump I've fallen into, and I appreciate all the positive responses I'm getting!</p><p>I love to hear from anyone on any part of the story or my writing style, as it only helps me improve, so please don't be afraid to comment or send me a PM.</p><p>Onward and upward, as they say. ^^ Hope you enjoyed chapter four!</p></blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The fall into the oubliette was harsh, the Helping Hands no longer helpful with the entirety of the labyrinth so dull and weak, and he hit the trap door with a harsh thud before it caved beneath his weight. He fell with a heavy cloud of dust and sand, what little breath he had left from the fall leaving him in a whoosh as he lay there in the dust, his once resplendent clothes filthy and tattered.

Jareth, the Goblin King of the Great Underground, was defeated, and he lay there in the grime for several moments until his aching limbs reordered themselves and he could sit up a little. Instantly, knowing where the doors and ladders led, Jareth threw back the coarse bit of fabric covering the wood plank, and he grinned before, upon opening it to what should have been the way out, he opened it to solid stone. He scowled, eyes wide,and each option only opened on more disappointment.

Jareth could hardly summon a simple scrying crystal, let alone conjure a door.

Sighing faintly in the blackness of the oubliette, the little orb appeared slowly in his hand, half forming before he could give it a second burst of strength and finish it. In it, he could already see the images he wanted, foggy and warped by the imperfect thing he'd attempted to call up, and his heart beat faintly as he let himself recline, eyes lingering on the smears of colour and form.

"Sarah..." He felt drowsy, sleepy as though he had been eating enchanter peaches and sipping decanters of honeyed wine. "Help me, Sarah..."

And that was when Toby woke up, shaking his older sister from her studies with a loud cry, his poor little limbs trembling as he sat up in bed and struggled to speak.

"SAAAARAAAAAHH!" He sobbed, head thrown back as he cried harshly into the night. It had been years and years since he'd seen the Goblin King, too many years for him to remember his face, or his hair, or the fear, but he wasn't afraid of this strange dream now. He felt so terribly sad.

"Toby?" In the other room, Sarah pulled out her second earphone in surprise at the shout and tried not to be irritated. Outside, in the harsh rains that pelted against her window, there was enough racket to frighten anyone, so she stiffly got to her feet and wandered up to her brother's bedroom.

She had left for school two years ago almost, but with her Reading Week in place, she had been glad to come for a few days to look after Toby. Her father was up in Canada for business, something about a conference, and Irene had needed a little break from her son and the empty house, so Sarah had gladly stepped in. It saved her from buying groceries for the weekend.

She left the lights off, the steet light outside illuminating his toys and other hazards enough for her, and she sat on the edge of his bed softly as she opened her arms to him. "Toby... what's wrong, soldier?" She smiled at him a little. "Run out of ammo?"

"No," Toby scrambled forward, snuffling harshly, and he whimpered against her shoulder as his arms locked around her neck. "No, Sarah, I had a bad dream! About the crow man again!"

"Ooo, scary. Half-man, half-crow. That's the worst!" Sarah rubbed his back gently, trying to soothe him, and she smiled at the idea of a funny-looking man with a beak and bird feet. "Did he eat bird seed or worms?"

"Sa-rah!" Toby looked up at her crossly, frowning as the tears dried on his cheeks. "Nobody eats WORMS. And he wasn't like that! He was a man who is a crow, and he's bad! He and the hawk man hurt the pretty bird man! They threw him in a hole!"

"Probably an oubliette." She chuckled to herself, remembering an encounter with one such hole.

"He's gonna DIE!" Toby wailed, his voice warbling out in the dark as he clung to her. "He's all alone and he's gonna die down there! The knight isn't coming to save him!" HE held her tightly, obviously very upset by the whole thing, and she frowned softly as she rubbed his back and rocked him lazily as he drifted off again in her arms. She thought about what he was saying a little, surprised he had brought something so sad into his mind, and she wondered if everything was alright. After the Labyrinth, he had always been a little odd... and it had begun to show more and more as he grew.

"It's nothing." She decided aloud, slowly easing her brother back down onto the mattress as she tucked him in again. "Just a bad dream..." He was sleeping sweetly again, his breathing even, and Sarah was glad to see him resting peacefully again. "Sleep tight, Captain Toby. See you in the morning."

Sarah smoothed down her shirt at the front as she closed her brother's door again, making a side trip to the bathroom, and she shrieked sharply when she saw someone pressed against the other side of the mirror.

"HOGGLE?!" Closing the door hurriedly in case Toby got up again, Sarah hurried forward to lean on the counter, her eyes wide as they could be, and she felt her heart pound hard against her ribs.

"SARAH!" The dwarf looked at her with wide eyes, older and more hunched since she had seen him last, and he banged his hands on the other side frantically. "Sarah, something awful happened! We need yer help!"


	2. Chapter 2

"SARAH!" The dwarf looked at her with wide eyes, older and more hunched since she had seen him last, and he banged his hands on the other side frantically. "Sarah, something awful happened! We need yer help!"

"What?" Sarah's heart clenched. "Is everyone alright? Ludo? Sir Dydimus? What's happening?!" She had no hesitations in getting up on the counter to press closer, her eyebrows crumpling together on her pale forehead worriedly as her hands covered his through the mirror. She could almost feeling him. "Is... Is he alright?" She didn't dare say his name, but she had to ask.

"Sarah, the Labyrinth- the city- it's all under attack!" Hoggle told her, breathing hard like he'd been running. "Jareth's been cast from the throne, we're lookin for him, but we're not findin him! And the Labyrinth's magic is waning! We need yer help!"

Sarah's eyes widened, her heart pounding against her ribs, and she pulled back from the mirror a bit as the news shook her more than she would have liked it to. Jareth was gone? The Labyrinth was in danger? Her mind flew to Toby for one almost hysterical moment and her breath caught in her throat, feeling like her body had sealed itself shut for her thoughts to incubate in and never air out.

His nightmare; the pretty bird man; could it be?!

"Toby..." Sarah whispered, her eyes wide and horrified, and suddenly the bathroom door was open and Sarah was tearing down the hallway.

"Sarah?" Hoggle strained to follow, smacking into the side of her mirror, and he groaned as he was forced to wait. "Sarah?! Sarah!"

"Toby?!" Sarah threw her brother's door open to find him sitting up for her, already awake and looking terribly frightened. "Toby, listen! I need you to tell me about the crow man again! And the pretty bird man! What happened?!" She flew to his bedside in a hurry, her hair falling out of the bun she'd pulled it into somewhat to keep it out of her face, and she grabbed his shoulders tightly, her face tense. "Toby, please, this is very important and-"

"I know." He whimpered, his eyes still as blue as ever and only growing paler as he aged. "Sarah, we need to help the pretty bird man..."

Eyes softening at the innocent sight and sighing, Sarah pushed her hair back and asked, "Toby, please... can you tell me about the pretty bird man?"

"He's a bad man, Sarah, really bad." Toby told her in a hushed, childish voice, pulling up his covers. "He's big, with lots of hair, and he's a great big scary king... but he's so sad. So sad, Sarah. He needs your help." When Toby looked up at her again, eyes horrifyingly wide, he grimaced and tugged on her shirt weakly. "...will you help him, Sarah?"

"Sarah, something awful happened! We need yer help!"

"Sarah, we need to help the pretty bird man..."

"...the Labyrinth's magic is waning! We need yer help!"

"...will you help him, Sarah?"  
"Sarah?"  
"...help me-"  
"Sarah..."

Sighing and releasing her brother, Sarah's gut knotted anxiously as she stood up and pulled his little hands away from her sadly, his eyes begging her to say 'yes', but she wasn't sure. What could she do? Running a maze was different than saving a kingdom, or saving a king for that matter. What did Jareth need her for, moral support? This had to be some kind of trick...

"Maybe, but try to sleep, okay?" Sarah appeased, struggling with a smile. "I'm going to finish my readings..."

"But the pretty-" "That overstuffed feather-duster will be fine." Sarah said softly, kissing his forehead. "I'll handle it. I promise."

"Pinky swear?" Sarah hesitated when Toby held his little finger out to her hopefully, eyes shining with unshed tears, and couldn't help but smile at the innocent gesture. Looping her bigger finger around his, Sarah hooked them together and shook them once, nodding.

"Pinky swear."

When Sarah returned to the bathroom, she looked a little shaken, but Hoggle was pressed anxiously at the mirror's edge and he shifted restlessly when she reappeared, eyes as wide and desperately blue as her brother's. "Sarah, what was it? What's going on?"

"My brother, he's been having nightmares recently." She told him leaning heavily on the counter top with her head in one hand. She quickly pulled the clip from her hair, the dark waves falling down over her shoulders and back like a silk drape, and she sighed heavily. "Crows, and birds, and 'the pretty bird man'... I think he's in the oubliette."

"The Oub-" Hoggle looked puzzled, then horrified, and his waxy, wrinkled face went pale. "Sarah, the Oubliette was only opened for your trial! Jareth ordered me to take the door away ages ago!" He began to worry his gnarled hands in one another, her plastic bracelet from long ago still around one wrist, and Sarah's heart throbbed for his concern. His king may not have been a kind one, but he watched over all the goblins and creatures in his kingdom as was needed, and now his people needed him returned.

"Can't you put the door back then?" She smiled, feeling a little calmer as she tried to think of a plan. And maybe the haughty Goblin King would think twice before dropping anyone in that hole after spending a bit of time in it himself. It might do him some good, this exodus in the dark.

"Not without His Majesty's magic operating inside." Hoggle said quietly, looking a little anxious. "That's why we need ye, Sarah. Yer the champion. Ye have t' help him."

"I-" Sarah reared back a little, bouncing between horror and shock, and she stuttered: "Hoggle, I'm not a champion! Last time, I beat him! Why would I help him?!" She couldn't believe Hoggle was asking her to go to that monster's aide.

"Because, Sarah..." Hoggle said solemnly, looking down at his shoes. "Jareth's heart is tied to the Labyrinth. It's his magic that keeps it all alive, an with him so weak an all, the world is just... driftin away. Like dust. Dydimus' stupid little outpost is gone... the Fade ate up the Bog like it was nothin."

"'The Fade'?" Sarah could see the dread in Hoggle's eyes and wondered what had appeared in the Bog's place to put that expression there. "What do you mean? How can something just eat a whole bog? Where did it go?!"

"Nobody knows." Hoggle told her quietly, "All we knows is that one day it was there, as stinky as ever, an the next... just black. Black so thick ye'd think ye'd gone blind. An not a soul that's gone in lookin for Dydimus ever came out. Even that rat pack Wild Gang. Their forest is gone too."

Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing, her heart pounding fiercely as she imagined it, the blackness that swallowed the work like a veil, spreading like sickness through the narrow twists and changing turns until even the Castle Beyond the Goblin City was overcome by darkness and devoured. Everything, everyone... anyone.

Sarah, eyes misty at the news of Dydimus' loss, went to turn away when suddenly her hand burned fiercely like she'd touched a hot burner and she cried out. When she looked down, her pained pinky finger was darkened around the base, as if she'd drawn a little black ring around it, and she whimpered as she leaned on the counter again and the pain receded.

"A promise ring!" Hoggle yelped, pressing against the glass incredulously as she lifted her hand to inspect it in the light. Her guts twisted, knowing what she must do, but her heart was fluttering around in her chest like a caged bird and she felt her legs tremble. "Sarah, where'd ya get somethin like that?!"

Sarah's eyes locked on the ring dismally as she realized she didn't have a choice. Even pulling away from the mirror had been agonizing, and she had no other choice than to fulfill her promise. She had to go into the labyrinth, had to save Jareth, or die trying.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hoggle," Sarah said softly, pulling her hair back from her face again and feeling her chest constrict around her lungs. "how do I get in? If the magic is weak, I can't just wish myself back, can I?" She looked at him anxiously, hoping there was a way to help, and she felt her guts flutter; she couldn't believe she was really doing this. her breath held, hoping there might be no way after all, but Hoggle smiled at her, eyes disappearing behind wrinkles as he placed his hands against the glass again and didn't seem to register any of her hesitance.

"Place yer hands like mine, an think real hard. Well, don't think about hard. Think about goin through yer mirror, an I'll pull." He told her quickly, patting the glass on his side. "It's simple, really." He looked up at her expectantly while she looked down at her clothes, feeling her heart sink, and she regarded herself harshly.

No shoes, no coat.  
Nothing of use.

"Alright." Sarah sighed and got up on the counter quietly, resigned to her promise to her brother, and she slowly but surely places her hands over his. She swore she could feel the warmth through the glass, but she wasn't sure, and she pushed a little more firmly against it, to make him chuckle. "On three?"

He chuckled dryly and shook his head at her. "On three."

"One." She closed her eyes softly, takin a deep breath, and tried to imagine herself sliding through the mirror like it was a hologram, as smooth as silk.

"Two." Hoggle said roughly, his voice seeming to ring in her ears as she leaned in further. She felt like she couldn't breathe, her lungs pressed in a vice, and it made her heart pound fiercely. "Come on, Sarah, don't be scared..."

"I'm **not** scared." She insisted harshly, her eyes snapping open, and she blinked in shock as she looked around. She was there! Gasping and looking at Hoggle's smug smirk, she had a feeling she had been there as soon as her eyes had closed, and she pulled her hands back hurriedly. "Well, that was easy."

"Says **you**." Hoggle scoffed, "I was the one doin all the pullin! Now come on, we need to save Jareth!" He tugged on her arm, her t-shirt providing no protection from the wind, and she gasped a little as a breeze blew back her hair. Wow, that was cold. She glanced back, the image of her bathroom disappearing from the pond he'd obviously been using to speak with her, and she wished she hadn't taken off her cardigan before she'd gone to see Toby. "Sarah, hurry!"

"Hoggle," She sighed, letting him drag her a few steps before she could follow along behind him. "I'm not exactly dressed for saving anybody... and it's gotten so cold. Is there anywhere I can get something to wear?" As she spoke, her foot caught a rock and she winced, trying to avoid anything underfoot that might hurt but failing. "Even just shoes..."

"We'll stop." Hoggle asured her, "But not here. It's not safe here anymore. We can get ye some shoes before we enter the Labyrinth, an then you'll set everythin right again."

"I still don't understand why you need **me** ," Sarah huffed softly as she followed Hoggle along the trail, wincing and trying to walk on her toes to spare her already-aching soles. "I mean, couldn't someone else do? Sir Dydimus is a knight, and Ludo... or the Goblin Corps, there's hundreds of them. How could I do what they can't?"

"Yer Jareth's champion." Hoggle said, pausing just beyond the outskirts of the wood to look back at her. "Ye solved the Labyrinth, defeated him, and got hyer brother back... You may have defeated im, but that means its also yer job t' defend him. That's what the champion does. It's a like a... a game, I suppose. An' sides" -He paused to pull up his sagging belt. "ye know the way through. Who better to go in than the girl who got out?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, thank you so much for being so enthusiastic about my story. ^^ I've been in a major writer's block for the longest time, and this is just a little attempt to get out of a dull slump I've fallen into, and I appreciate all the positive responses I'm getting!
> 
> I love to hear from anyone on any part of the story or my writing style, as it only helps me improve, so please don't be afraid to comment or send me a PM.
> 
> Onward and upward, as they say. ^^ Hope you enjoyed chapter four!

When Hoggle finally led her into the rough outlines of a yard, some strange-looking plantsd growing in what could have been a garden, her eyes widened and she stopped to watch him push the door open and take a few steps in. The structure was small, just big enough for her to hunch in, and her eyes tried to take in every bit of it as Hoggle bustled around her, grumbling about something.

"Well, do ye want some shoes for yerself or not?" He grunted, beckoning her inside. "We don't have time for you t' stare at every little thing like a changeling!" His house fit him well, filled with shiny jewels and bits of jewelry and scrap probably filched from the Junk Wastes just outside the city's stone borders. "Sit down an' I'll find ye somethin t' wear."  
Sarah plopped into a chair, the twenty-something's weight making it's legs creak and groan, and she settled herself awkwardly in a chair probably more fitting to Toby's seven year-old weight. "Sorry... I've just never seen your house before. It's nice."

"Pah," Hoggle tried to scoff off his embarrassment, rifling through a chest and tossing a few vests and patched pairs of trousers aside before he unearthed a pair of ragged, open toed boots with frayed laces. He held one up to the light, checking the soles with a grunt before they fell at his feet, and he continued searching with a grumble. "it's too small, an cluttered, an its fallin apart in most places."

"I like it." Sarah told him honestly, "It's lived in. It feels warm, like a home." She wasn't ashamed to smile at him brightly, head tilted ever so slightly to one side, and her smile grew a little when he huffed and turned away from her bashfully. Finally, he pulled out a pair of unevenly knit socks, the kind your well-meaning aunt makes you for Christmas and forgets to make sure are even at the tops, and he handed them to her gruffly.

"Here, put these on, an we can go." He told her, turning around and shuffling up a small ladder. "Now, let's see if I can find somethin t' cover yer arms... got cold round these parts when the Fade came in." He rustled about upstairs as Sarah pulled the funny socks over her feet, the loosely-knitted yarn revealing the sparkly purple she'd painted her toes the night before, and she huffed sternly. As if she was about to balk at the Goblin King teasing her for her polish; she tugged the boots onto her feet stubbornly, having to unlace them to their loosest setting.

When she stood up, the oepn toes of the formerly sturdy boots showed off both the yarn and her nails, but she refused to change. If Jareth wanted her help, he could take what he would get, or so help her. Hoggle tossed her a cloak that looked more like a patchwork quilt and a small jacket that barely managed to cover her chest. She glanced at herself in the mirror, her long her a little ruffled in her clip, in the broken boots and the little jacket, and she nodded sternly as she threw the cloak around her shoulders and gladly let it drape around her.

"This is perfect, thank you." She told him, showing off her motley outfit, and he laughed at her as she twirled for his benefit. The boots laced up over the cuffs of her jeans thankfully, keeping the breeze out of her legs, and the jacket clung tightly to her bare arms to secure the warmth to her skin.

"'Perfect'?" He snorted, leaving the house again and making double sure to lock his door after she'd left. "If this is 'perfect', I dunno what yer comparin it to. Ain't no castle, tha's fer sure."

Glancing back at the hut as they left, passing his little stone edge fence, Sarah smiled at the shrinking silhouette of Hoggle's house and shrugged wordlessly, seeing it pointless to argue.

"Whatever you say, Hoggle." He led her to the Labyrinth's gates, the once clinging vines withered and dry where they clung frailly to the wood and stone, and Sarah winced. The Labyrinth had lost it's vibrant sparkle, its magic glow. It felt ill to her, and weakened by the strange force, and it made Sarah's guts churn weakly as she approached it and tentatively touched the stone. It was cold and damp to the touch, like a sweaty forehead, and for a moment Sarah worried about the king Hoggle was so desperate to find; was he suffering the same if his heart -however black and small- was tied to the Labyrinth?

In the darkness, Jareth's breath wheezed out a little easier at the touch, the hand against the cold stone making his lashes flutter, and he stared up through the slats in the Oubliette hatch at the faintest bit of light shining down from the cracks in the trap door. The hands had long fallen silent, having grown tired to speaking to someone who barely had the energy to open his mouth, and Jareth's ears longed for the noise.

Anything to disrupt the black.

Head turning listlessly to the side, Jareth looked at the crystal clutched in one hand and felt his lips curve upward just slightly as he watched Sarah's lips move silently to Hoggle, unable to conjure the sound of her voice from the image, and his eyes closed briefly. The champion - **his** champion- was returning to her victory grounds; it wouldn't be long now.

"It's so cold..." She murmured softly, unaware of the observations of the weakened king.

"It's sick." Hoggle said, his voice tinged with sadness. It's been like this for days, an it's only gettin worse. Nobody's got a way t' stop it. It just keeps gettin sicker." He touched the wall too, tracing a brick, and his fingers came away with a bit of the mortar that crumbled under his hands. "Wastin away like a bramble bush in the dead a winter."

"Then we need to hurry." Sarah was dismayed to find the wood doors propped half-open, her gut sinking when Hoggle told her nothing opened on its own any more without a pry bar or some serious muscle, and she slipped in first to help him through. She had been expecting change, but the cold, damp mist hugging the ground and the bits of rubble from the toppling walls made her let out a choked sound of dismay. She held no love for the king, or any real attachment to the maze that she had triumphed, but the sight of the world she'd left behind in such disrepair made her heart throb.

She looked at Hoggle, seeing now why he had looked so grim. "We need to find him."


	5. Chapter 5

"She thinks she's going to swoop in and snatch our little hatchling up." Smirked a tall figure, his dark hair swept back from his face charmingly despite his narrowed eyes and his straight, narrow nose. He banished the crystal, crushing it soundlessly in his hand and letting the pieces disappear from existence, and his brother snickered from the balconey overlooking the Goblin City, his beady eyes heavy set under dark brows.

"She does?" Grinning, the hunched, lanky figure turned to give his companion a leering grin, his eyes glittering like two black beetles as they moved from the proud, imposing figure to the room surrounding them, mainly the toppled throne, it's great, arching back and supports snapped right in half. "Well, then we might as well give her something to really swoop in on, mustn't we brother?"

"Indeed, we must," Smiled the hawklike man, shifting his cape around his shoulders like a restless bird rustling its feathers. "but I want you waiting above the shaft for her. No doubt that meddling little stump will try to use her to reenchant a door, and then all our fun with your favourite little hide-y hole will be over and done. And we need a cage for that pompous chick until we can sever him from this stone monstrosity. The land withers in his absence,"

"Why should **I** go?" Stiffening and standing up a little straighter, the black ropes swathed around him ever so slightly shifting to grace the air with glances of a white underlayer and the tattered, worn edges of his clothes where they drug on the floor. "Why don't you go and see to the little girl? I have things to do, **stuff** to steal."

Sighing and whirling on his sibling, the dark-haired man seemed to grow a foot, his eyes turning into bottomless pits lit by a furious torch, and he swooped down the few steps to loom over his now-cowering brother with his teeth ferally bared. "You'll go, you miserable, grovelling worm, because I told you to." He hissed, his tone icy and raspy with contained rage and volume. It made the hairs o the back of his target's neck go stiff, a shiver rippling down his bent spine, and he floundered for words. "Now go, Kain, or I will be graced with the priviledge of caging you like a vapid songbird before I go take care of the would-be king."

"Y-Yes, Malakai..." Kain murmured, scornful eyes not daring rise to meet his aggressor's as he slunk back a few feet, back and head bent supplicantly. "As you wish..." Face twisted in a malicious expression that cast a dark light on his narrow features, Kain backed away in the guise of a low bow, his eyes down and glaring holes in the roughly-hewn stone, and he stormed off furiously when he left the throne room. Any goblin that got in way, he swooped down upon readily, his hand raised for the beating he wished to deliver, and when he finally left the castle, Kain's burning rage had not dulled.

The girl would not succeed.

Not even Sarah thought so as she and Hoggle wandered through the maze of fallen branches and toppled bricks. She had to stop to help him over obstacles sometimes, or to get her bearings in this strange, sickly world, and it felt nothing like the Labyrinth she was used to. Even the Eye Lichen she had encountered that usually perked up and stared was listless, drooping against the stones and blinking slowly.

She made a soft sound in her throat, momentarily distracted from her progrees to raise a hand, and she hesitantly lifted one patch of drooping lichen to meet her eyes. her gaze moved from eye to eye, seeing the sad, hopeful look Toby had given her in bed, and she sighed before she carefully let them go. To surprise, some of the lichen seemed to perk up at her attentions, blinking a little more readily as they held themselves up, but all eventually sank back against the stone balefully.

"This is awful..." She said softly, hurrying to catch up with Hoggle as he waited for her at the first turn. He looked small compared to the walls, and she was glad to come up alongside him again, brushing a bit of hair back from her from her face, and she looked around anxiously. With the walls seeming to twist and warp as she stared into the distance, Sarah sighed and rubbed her tired eyes, not caring when the faint shadow she'd put on that morning came away on her fingertips. "The walls... everything is so different like this. I'm not sure."

"Sarah," Hoggle groaned, "you **know** this. You beat the Labyrinth once, you can sure as slop do it again! I'm not even tryin t' stop ya this time!"

"And Toby's not in danger, and I'm not fifteen, and that shmuck king isn't sitting around trying to make everything harder!" Sarah snapped suddenly, her shoulders dropping. "I know what happened last time, but this time is different!" She regretted snapping at him immediately, seeing his bushy brows rise and his eyes widen, and she slouched against the cold stone wearily. "I don't know... when I was here, I was so stubborn. And I needed to get my brother back. But now, I'm just... here. I'm not here for a reason, really."

"Yes, y'are." Hoggle said suddenly, his voice gravelly and low as he caught one of her hands and dragged it out in front of her fiercely. "See that? That black mark on yer finger? Ya made a promise, an yer here to keep yer end of yer promise. An I doubt that promise was t' come here an mope about whatcha gotta do, was it?" He dropped her hand as she stared at the little black marking around her finger, guts rolling, and continued. "Sarah, I know ya don't have no likin for Jareth, but we **need** him. He's the only one who can fix all this commotion, and we need him **soon**. Before it's too late. So please... for us?"

Sarah hadn't expected the father-like sternness from Hoggle, not one bit, and her eyes widened as she listened to him and felt a little ashamed of her teenage griping and moaning about her situation. This was her burden to bear, and she hadn't been forced to make that pinky promise with Toby; she'd gotten herself into this mess, and all she had to do was get Jareth out. How hard could it be?


	6. Chapter 6

Whistling merrily as he settled on the top of the tunnel and leaped down from the roof, his drapes and clothes flapping in the breeze as he turned on the quartet guarding the riddle doors, Kain merely waved his hands at them, eyes bright and cunning. Protests died on their stiffening lips, and soon the liar and the three truth-tellers were solid stone behind their bronze shields.

Satisfied with his magic and tossing them aside casually, the crunch of broken stone meant nothing to the sorcerer as he pushed the right door open and grinned at the trapdoor before a wave of his wrist threw it back and let light pour down. The hands that would usually have stuck out and began to gripe pulled back, pressing back against the slimy walls and gripping their partners fearfully as he peered in, able to see the hatch.

"Goblin King!" He laughed, sounding almost cheerful and innocent as he leapt in and landed gracefully on the closed hatch. "Goblin King, wherever you may be-"

"That's the trouble with magpies..." Jareth's voice floated up out from between the small slots cut into the door, his entire effort going into sounding unperturbed as could be. "is that they have such big mouths. Such noisy, pesky birds." He didn't move from where he lay in the shadows, as far away from the trap door as he could be in the hollowed pit in the stone, and he was surprised to hear Kain laugh instead of receive the furious lash of his tongue.

Strange, he was usually so easy to rile up...

"Hm, such brave words from the chick fallen from his little nest. And such a nice nest you have, Jareth. I'll enjoy keeping it, after I've finished making it over a little... that, and teaching your subjects how to serve their new king."

"Ah," Jareth nodded wearily in the dark, realizing the gesture was useless to him. "so Malakai has finally whipped you into proper submission. Made you the proper younger brother. So good to hear someone could treat you with a firm hand, at last."

Suddenly the harsh sound of a foot stomping on the door rang into the Oubliette's chamber, and Jareth winced at he volume of the noise, his ears ringing with it and Kain's high, reedy laughter. " **Again** you are wrong!" He blurted, his anger and excitement or conflict prompting another harsh stomp on the hatch. " **I** will rule your little hole! There's so much here to oversee, to collect- it will be the Golden Age, for certain! I want everything these pathetic pixies have to offer!"

“You’ll get **nothing**.” Jareth growled back, his voice smooth but hoarse with strain as Kain kept laughing and ignored him. “I won’t let you-”

“You’ll do absolutely nothing, **brother** ,” Kain hissed, the term dripping of his tongue with corrosive sweetness as he straightened in the tunnel and smirked at the hatch. “as you’ve always done. While I scar your champion, our elder brother will find the enchantment to unchain you from this disgusting rock pile, and we’ll be rid of you.”

“Sarah...” Jareth couldn’t contain the hiss as he inhaled sharply. No.

“’Sarah’~” Kain crooned back, kicking a rock into the pit like a petulant child teasing a dog. “’Sarah’~, ’Sarah’~! Oh ’Sarah’~!” He gagged. “ **Disgusting**. To think you fell so far, brother, as to rule these simpletons and court mortals. It will be a blessing to end your life. You’ve laid such waste to it.” And, satisfied with having thrown some sand into his elder brother’s wounds, Kain allowed his form to shift and the magpie soared up the tunnel to perch atop the little archway. His beady brown eyes caught on the shattered statues, a shrill cry that could have been laughter bubbling up his throat, and he fanned his feathers to soak up the meager sunlight.

And then, all he had to do was wait, for Sarah was on her way, no matter how slowly. She didn’t know anything about the monster lying in wait, or about what her task would really take, and if she did she would have sooner tried to cut off her cursed hand.

“Would you say we’re close?” Sarah asked, frowning as she looked around and began to recognize the pillars and the rounded toppers to them all. “This looks about it... I just wish those little goblins hadn’t moved my marks, or maybe they’d point us in the right direction. If they were still there, that is.”

“I’ll say whatever you wanna hear, but that doesn’t make us any closer!” Hoggle admitted sourly, looking around as he shuffled along behind her a step. “I know the ways **out** , not the ways **in**!”

“Well, wouldn’t it make sense that you could navigate your way back? You came back for me, didn’t you?” Sarah protested, in a bit of a temper herself as she leaned against the wall and pushed her hair back from her face. The metal comb her stepmother had gifted her usually worked well at keeping her hair back with a twist and the right position, but it was failing her in her time of need. Sighing, she reset it in her hair one last time and she tried to relax, tried to remember the hectic twists and sudden turns she’d taken in her youth.

“No, a course I don’t!” Hoggle told her, stomping a foot harshly. “The Labyrinth is always a changin dependin on where ye stand! It’s never the same way goin in as it is goin out! Think **hard** , Sarah!”

“I **am** thinking, okay! I’m trying! it’s sort of difficult to remember it after six years!” Sarah was at her wits end, turning around and around, and she groaned as she kicked where two pillars had come together in frustration. “It’s not-” Her toe ached sharply. “fair! It just keeps taking us in circles! This is a dead end!”

Suddenly it clicked, and Sarah’s open-mouthed frown lifted ever so slightly into a bit of a smile. “No... the dead end... it’s behind me.” Grinning at Hoggle and turning around, her eyes lit up at the sight of the wall smoothed over and when she turned back there was the doors, although their usual guards were missing. Her breath caught, her heart fluttering quickly, and she grinned at it as she stepped into their little hedged clearing. “I did it, we’re here!”

“Toldja ya could.” Hoggle muttered, following behind her and looking around warily. “Now, come on.”

“But where are the guards?” She asked, looking around aimlessly and wondering if they’d found another spot to stand. “I mean, they’re always supposed to be here, aren’t they? What happened to them?” As she walked, she suddenly stumbled over a rock and she looked down, only to cry out and see Hoggle go deathly pale. The rock, had been part of a head, frozen in horror, and when Sarah saw the rest, she couldn’t help but scream. “Oh my God!"

"Isn't it grand?" Asked Kain, sitting human and bow-legged atop his avian perch. "I find I like them so much better when they're quiet. No pesky riddles now, eh boys~?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Sarah," Hoggle tugged on her arm again, insistent and tensed like a bowstring, and she looked down at him to see how pale and anxious he was. "Sarah, we should go. He's dangerous."

"I am?" Kain grinned and let himself glide down off the top of the building. "Why would you say that, Hoggle?" His voice was so empty of emotion that Sarah felt a cold chill go through her. She wished it was Jareth mispronouncing his name like he always had. Did. Had?

"What have you done with Jareth?" Sarah demanded suddenly, feeling protective as she thought of the Goblin King. She was the champion, she was here to save him. "Where is he?"

"He?" Kain leered at her, prowling closer. Sarah sneered at him in disgust even as Hoggle pulled on her arm, making her retreat. She felt her breathing go shallow. "Who, Sarah my dear? You need to be more specific if you want any answers."

"I've come for the Goblin King! Where are you hiding him?" She said proudly, her shoulders going back, and she refused to retreat any further. "I've come for the King of the Labyrinth."

"Oooh," Kain suddenly slid against her, an arm circling her, and she shoved him away with a disgusted sound, her heart hammering as she got her space back. "Then why are you running? I AM the Goblin King. I stole Jareth's fancy crown and I rule his gremlins. If you want me, why are you running? Do you want to join my prisoner in the Oubliette?"  
Tensing up and feeling righteous anger burn in her breast, Sarah looked toward the dark door and felt her pulse speed up. She was so close. She just had to grab Jareth and pull him out of that-

"Sarah!" Hoggle suddenly dove at her, knocking her off center, and she felt a blade of wind slide by and tear into her ear like a cartilage piercing gone wrong. She hissed, feeling blood begin to flow, and suddenly she made her decision and made a break for the door.

"Sarah," The stranger was strangely cheerful, and she panted heavily as she made a run for it, praying she made it in time. "Where are you going?"

"LONG LIVE THE KING!" Sarah shouted, lifting her middle finger as she let her body fall through the handsy hole to the oubliette, and her breath left her as she hit the trap door. She scrambled for the latch, hearing fabric rustle above her and slammed the hatch behind her. She let out a scream as a magpie hit the door, screeching.

Small stones rained down on the door as the bird buffeted it with its wings, and Sarah retreated as harsh winds shook the wooden door that miraculously stayed in place. Hoggle shouted at her, trying to urge her on, but all Sarah could do was scoot back and whimper as the noise only got worse and a bit of the door was torn away. The magpie's head poked through, eyes dark and cruel, and Sarah kicked at it fiercely before it disappeared.

And then her fingers met something soft, vaguely warm, and it shifted at her touch.

Gasping and turning around, what she had expected to be a man turned out to be nothing but an owl, one wing angled awkwardly beneath it as it screeched softly in pain. However, the pale feathers were familiar, and she realized she was staring at the very King she had come to save. He was battered, weak enough to find solitude in his avian shape, and Sarah glanced up at the now-silent trap door before she reached down and carefully lifted the barn owl off the stone. It twitched, good wing flapping resistance as she tightened her grip.

"Stop that," Sarah hadn't realized how terrified she'd been until her voice came out hoarse and tight. She tried again. "Stop struggling, I'm trying to help you, you idiot! It's me!" She was surprised to have him actually go still, turning his head around to blink at her owlishly like he hadn't realized who she was. She frowned deeply. "Don't look at me like that, you. Stop it!"

When her voice rose, the sudden snap of wood had the trap door caving in, and Sarah shrieked with Jareth's owl form as the magpie perched atop the wreckage morphed into that of a man and there Kain stood. His arms relocated with sickly crunching, joints repositioning themselves, and he chuckled as he spied her sitting in the dirt with the injured owl.

"Sarah, dear," He said mockingly, grin stretching maniacally as another blade came carving up the dirt, and drew a scream from her as she rolled to avoid it. "Give me that. You don't want that. Its filthy." She clutched Jareth to her chest as she moved, eyes wide and her breathing laboured as she struggled to keep away from Roland's invisible blades, and she winced as she stumbled over the wreckage of the door. "Let me take care of it, we can get you a nice, shiny new one. One for a mature, grown-up, intelligent young woman. Why should you settle for a child's plaything when you're such an adult?"

Flinching as he addressed her like that and feeling his words sink in like she was a dry sponge and they were drops of stagnant water. She felt awful for listening, diseased for buying into it, but her grip on the ragged barn owl eased and she looked down to find herself clutching a stuffed toy instead. She gasped, shocked, and nearly dropped it, but she kept her grip. The wing on the left side was torn, a bit of stuffing coming out, and the button eyes were dull and worn from centuries of grubby-handed children. He held out his hand for it lazily, like Karen had when she had found her with something she shouldn't have back when she was a girl.

"Sarah, give it to me." His eyes, unlike his compassionate voice, held to sympathy or warmth, and when she met them she recoiled, leaning on the splinters that had fallen against the wall. Her hand found the edge, fingers curling behind as she clutched it, and she was shocked to find empty space behind it. A door?

"No!" She refused, cradling the stuffed owl with the torn wing close to her chest anxiously. "You can't have him!"

"A big girl like you doesn't need it." Roland advised, voice slow and firm as he stepped closer, eyes flashing. "Its old and dirty, it should have gone in the trash much sooner." Suddenly this man was her father, disapproving of a ratty pair of running shoes that shed promised him had wings on the heels to help her run faster. "It's not important, Sarah. Get rid of it."

"Shut up!" Sarah felt like her head was spinning, this man advancing on her and she groaned as she clutched her head instead of the door. "Stop saying that! He's mine!"

"Don't be a baby!" Kain chastised harshly, grabbing for the owl and missing as she hurried away like a frightened rabbit. "Give it to me! Let go of that stupid toy!"

"I don't want to!" Sarah declared harshly, diving to one side and hearing her comb clatter to the ground. "He's mine!" As he lunged at her again, Sarah grabbed the comb and slammed the teeth down hard into his thigh, feeling horrified and vaguely triumphant to see it sink into his flesh and hear him yowl in pain. "You can't have him!"

Seeing her chance, Sarah scramble to her feet, the owl in her arms hooting and screeching in protest of her strong grip, but she didn't relent until she'd pulled the plank aside and thrown herself through the doorway she'd created. A terrified laugh left her, weakening her grip, and Sarah trembled as she made a run for the ladder and tunnel that Hoggle had led her to long ago, her heart pounding in her chest and Jareth tucked under her arm.


	8. Chapter 8

Struggling to keep her breathing steady as she staggered towards the ladder, struggling to keep the bird in her arms contained, Sarah had to look up the long ladder for a moment before the talons found the meat of her. Her arm stung, twitching, but she managed not to drop the bird outright before her scowl came back and she glared down at it.

With its big dark eyes on her, she had to admit that the bird of prey was unnervingly intense. She realized suddenly the animal that she'd tucked in against her heart was no beast, the king in his smallest form to conserve what little energy was left, and his talons flexed again before they punched holes in her shirt.

"You're lucky Hoggle found my mirror." She scolded him shortly, breathless and her heart still hammering. "You've really let this place go." She didn't know what else to say to offset her own shock and alarm, the relief of shoving herself through the magic door and into this safe tunnel, but a rumbling had her eyes wide as she hurried to reaffirm her grip.

The rumbling continued, dust raining from the ceiling briefly as the squeeze had the owl in her arms shrieking, and she winced before she hurried to grab for a rung and throw herself into the climb. Doing it with a bird in one arm was nearly impossible, her struggling to push herself up as high as she could before she had to make the terrifying, teetering grab for the next rung, and she was breathless again. She had felt so brave and cocky doing it as a child, but this鈥? this was terrifying. There was no grand goal, no end game except to survive, and Sarah had to admit that a few of her deep gasping breaths on the way up had been dry sobs. The tunnel was still rumbling, the world around her shaking, but she pushed up through the manhole finally and she sank against the flagstones as the rumbling slowly subsided.

Feeling the rumbling fade like a departing train, glancing back to one side as she tried to spot any incoming terror, she only saw Hoggle there on the steps and Sarah forgot her feathered burden for a moment as she let it down and hurried over.

"Hoggle? Hoggle!" She called, shaking his shoulder gently as she tried to rouse the wizened old grouch. When she dared turn him over, the bump on his head was bleeding only a little and her breath caught as he groaned. "Hoggle, it's me, it's Sarah. We have to go, now." She urged, and she tried to be quiet as her eyes went back to the gaping maw that was the door down to the oubliette.

"Le's go鈥? He grumbled, gnarly hand gripping his forehead tenderly as he let her help him up, but the surly little man waved her hands away as he forced himself up. The fierce owl laying beside the open manhole screamed shortly, drawing Sarah's attention as it tried to refold even it's broken wing, and she huffed as she hurried over to pick it up.

As she turned, the sudden burning grasp on her ankle made her scream, stumbling, and she wasn't proud to fall now as someone jerked hard on her leg. One glance down showed her the gnashed teeth and inky dark eyes of the birdman from the oubliette, incensed, and she had to scream next as the owl in her arms began beating it's wings frantically. Between the fierce grasp and the buffeting of feathers, she couldn't help how the high scream left her, legs thrashing, and she was glad to kick a second time as her first caught him in the chin.

Scrambling back a little as he released her, dazed, Sarah went wide eyed for a moment before her hands moved and she shoved the metal plate back over him.

"Run!" She barked, scooping up her avian prize and clasping a hand in Hoggle's shirt. She didn't dare look back, like it would give her pursuer more power, and she took a deep, daring breath as she led them forward into the labyrinth's walls. She was happy to duck through under an archway, trying to remember her way on the fly as the sudden deep rushing of wings set her nerves dancing.

"S-Sarah, the mirror-" Hoggle wheezed, his stubby legs not helping as Sarah sometimes lifted him right off the stones in her haste. She was determined, her frightened eyes on the skies as she tried to get a glimpse of their pursuer, but it was in vain. "Ya need t' getta the mirror!"

"The mirror?" She questioned, confused suddenly as they found another crossroads. "But what about you?"

"I've got my ways, ye've got our king. They ain't gonna let im outta that oubliette lightly." He told her, breathless, and she felt the owl squirm in her arms again suddenly with mortifying clarity. "Ye gotta go. Ye can't stay here."

Throat tight, trying to make a decision suddenly, Sarah looked back and forth at their choices and her wide bright eyes stared down at Hoggle. It was tearing, trying to make the decision to just leave him behind, and her lips parted in shock for a moment before he stumbled back and he tried to regain his breath.

"You get goin that a way fore he comes. I'm goin this way." He told her, meaty hands clenching into tight fists. "Go back t the boot, back t the mirror fountain, an fall in. Ye have yer magic enough t come back if it's safe鈥?but not before then. Don't come back before." He told her, and the wings came again before his frame tensed and he had to get jogging.

Sarah, pressing close to the archway now to hide in it's shadow, watched him go trotting down the other way frantically, trying to make more noise, and she clenched her teeth as he started to shout like he'd fallen behind her. Enough noise to attract that villain, surely, but she couldn't be sure and Sarah took off in the other direction.

"You're-" She had to scold the owl between breaths, frustrated and her belly brewing anxiously as she let Hoggle create her diversion. "awful. He doesn't-" She had to slide around a corner, knees aching, but she swore she saw the boot over a wall as she went down some stairs. "deserve what-" She couldn't stop to look for the worm or his wife, her heart breaking as she wondered if the dying Labyrinth meant they'd all been driven from their homes. "you put him-"

She nearly sobbed with relief as a new break in the outer wall spilled bricks out onto grass. Now the Labyrinth had more than one exit, and entrance, and it pained her more than she expected as she stumbled over stones and a bird's cry above her had her ducking.

"Damn goblins!" She blurted, eyes stinging, and she struggled over the final bit of rubble as she made her line for the pond. Fall in? Fall into that shallow little pool and smack against the bottom? Was Hoggle serious? Damn goblins, damn kings, damn magic, and- "Shit!" Sarah swore sharply as something combed through her hair, hand rising, but she saw the feathery thing go flying ahead and wheel around.

Ducking, diving down now as it swooped lower, she sent it a dark look as she hurried to scrape herself together, and she squared up with it again as it turned to come at her. Facing it, trembling, Sarah folded her arms over her chest to pin the owl's strong wings and she was glad to see the magpie regard her for a moment. They were all breathing too hard, tensions drawing paper thin, and she scooted back the final amount now as it dove toward her and she had to fall back.

Hoggle had told her to fall, fall into the pond and to safety, and she had to trust him.

Staring up at the clouds for a final moment, the Goblin realm sky, Sarah's eyes and arms squeezed shut as she felt herself fall beyond saving. She expected cool water, the slap of hitting the bottom of the pond, but the cool breeze across her back was just offset by a continued fall, the warmth of her home, and her eyes shot open again. She could see her grubby self in the mirror, looking shocked and in shambles as she swayed back, and she couldn't help the short cry as she crashed down and took the towel rack down with her.

She regretted her daring posturing immediately, head aching as she lay crumbled against her bathroom wall and floor, but she needed a dazed moment to relax. Her arms going slack, she let the struggling bird of prey free and her eyes closed with a soft sound of pain.

She could feel his soft primaries dust across her forearm, reminding her as he ruffled his won feathers that he needed attending, but Sarah was just so relieved to be home. It had been a long time since she'd run his labyrinth in search of her sibling, and her pounding headache in tandem with her exertion were happy to bring her to sleep.

She felt him again, the primaries feeling more like soft fingers grazing her skin, and she hummed softly as she swore he spoke to her. She tried to open her eyes, dazed, but she was too far gone and Sarah swore she'd wake up in bed when she woke next.


	9. Chapter 9

_Sarah…_

__Sarah, my dear…_ _

__Sarah, can you hear me?_ _

Groaning, Sarah shifted and she hissed as her sore head protested. She could hear someone calling her, someone making her brain roll over thoughtfully, and she tried to discern the noise of it from the static of her thoughts.

__Sarah, my dear, open your eyes._ _

Sighing, lashes fluttering as she tried to open her eyes, Sarah swore she smelt spices. She heard motion, trying to rouse herself, but fingers brushed her bangs back from her eyes and she felt herself relax. It felt nice, a gesture she had long since outgrown from most, and she took a moment to collect her wits.

Lifting a hand to thank her companion, whoever it was, Sarah was woken from her groggy daze by the sharp snip at her fingers, enough to break skin and send her shooting up.

“Ouch!” She exclaimed, pulling her hand to her chest as she examined her fingertip in shock. When she looked back, hair a mess, she was surprised to see the owl sitting there instead. She had sworn it was hands, a hand as warm as hers, but the bird and it’s broken, splayed wing just lying there, couldn’t have been mistaken.

And she’d hoped it had just been a dream.

“So you’re real after all…” She sighed, glancing at her hand once more. “Damn.” She wasn’t pleased, but there wasn’t much else she could do. “Give me a minute.”

Forcing herself to her feet, hurrying to turn on the water, Sarah rinsed her fingers off for a bandage and she turned back around to face the owl begrudgingly. It shrieked at him once, making her wince at the noise, and she covered one ear for a moment before she tugged a towel off the rack and draped it over him.

“Oh, do you ever do anything but shout? Be quiet.” She huffed. “Hoggle called me t help you and I brought you here. The least you could do is not wake up-”

“Sarah?”

“Toby!” Sarah could hardly believe it, stunned, but she hurried to step into her brother’s way and ignore the bird lying on the floor. “Toby, you should be in bed… do you know what time it is?”

“Early time.” Toby mumbled, his pajamas and his tired eyes making him look a conflict of old and terribly young. “I heard you fall in.”

“Oh,” Sarah did her best to laugh it off, surprised, and her hand came forward to fix his messy hair and reel him in for a hug. “well I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you, I…”

“Was saving the bird man.” Toby finished it for her, nodding, and his interest in the hug waned as he peered around her at the owl shuffling out from under the towel proudly. “Is the birdman okay?” His certainty startled her, enough to let him close, but the owl’s cry was enough of a shock to have her pulling him back.

“No-” She swallowed, trying to be reasonable, and she held his shoulders. “Toby, he’s a bird right now. Remember what your mother said about when animals get hurt? You need to be careful,” Careful it didn’t give you another goblin trial to run through and make everything more difficult than it needed to be. She didn’t doubt the trickster would have something up a sleeve -or a wing- and she didn’t want to lose her little brother to it again. She regretted it enough the first time to be too cautious. “Go back to bed… in the morning, I’ll have him fixed by the morning. Like Lancelot.”

“Like Lancelot?” Toby questioned softly.

“Yes, I promise.” Sarah reassured, letting him cast the owl a long look before he looked back at her. “Bed… you don’t want to be tired tomorrow.” She doubted he’d be asleep soon, least of all when there was such a tantalizing presence in the house again, and she watched him until he closed his door. Then, tentative, she turned back to the owl on the floor and she sighed as she carefully lifted him off the tile. “If anything happens to Toby, you’ll wish I __left__  you in the oubliette.” She warned, folding the towel up on the counter for him to perch on. “Let me see your wing… and stop scratching me.” She was already hurting, although the bandage on her finger was helping, and she just tried to compare the two appendages. She knew next to noting about broken wings, least of all for a Goblin King masquerading as a bird of prey, and she hardly wanted to touch him, let alone push bones around.

Feeling helpless, Sarah let the bird thrust his wing at her bluntly and she dared take hold of it gently.

“I don’t know what you expect me to do. I don’t exactly have wings to compare them to.” She said sarcastically, hesitating as she slowly began to feel along his twisted limb. “You should have found someone who knew birds. Maybe next time you can pick an animal less complicated.” She told him, happy to let her thoughts pour out of her mouth as she tried to find the break and thing up some reasonable remedy. She could put the wing back, like they did on TV, and bandage him all up, but was she really about to treat the Goblin King like some wild thing?

Damn right she was.

“If you bite me, you can kiss me helping you goodbye.” She told him firmly, getting out a roll of gauze bandage and making sure she had everything she needed. She moved slowly, bandage roll going around and under his good wing before she guided the damaged one to fold.

She hoped she wasn’t making it worse, tentative to be forceful with the bird, but eventually she had her rhythm going and she had bandaged the wing into place. She wound the gauze around him until there was no leftovers, all of it tied neatly around the predator, and she let out a soft sigh.

Hands retreating a little to watch it breathe, tense, Sarah let him hop and shift a little before her hands dropped and she got the chance to relax.

“There,” She sighed, leaning on the counter. “done.”

The shriek was thanks enough, even if her face screwed up irritably at the sound and she pulled back. Even the cute way he ruffled his feathers and leaned in to polish his beak on her sleeve couldn’t deter her, not when she knew full well this bird packed worse. She couldn’t help but be concerned, considering how much smaller his owl form was, but she had to let out a little shriek of her own suddenly as he waddled along the counter and one wing gave him enough lift to throw himself at her.

Fumbling, she managed to keep him off the ground but not without staggering forward to catch him. She could have sworn she heard someone call her, refusing to feed into the bird’s magic and tricks, and she swallowed down irritation again. No yelling, Toby needed to get his rest.

“Don’t hurt yourself any worse.” She told him stiffly, arms folding beneath him as she carefully let his struggling subside. “Don’t hurt yourself any worse. I need to take you back to the Goblin City in one piece…” She had never had a bird on her shoulder before, the owl not happy until it perched there, and she stared up at it tensely. “you’re no use to the kingdom if you’re hurt.” What a perfect position to bite at her eyes.

When his flat face pushed against her forehead, into her hair, Sarah snorted and moved trepidatiously out of the bathroom. She’d find him a cozy perch, settle in for the night, and try and think up some way to send him back through the mirror once his wing healed.

“Don’t be cute. You’re not a real bird.” She warned, hand rising to push his face away as she wandered into the hall and found the owl sturdily perched. She could move freely, for the most part, and she was just glad to move into her old bedroom and find its fixtures intact. There, among her old bears, was a nice empty nook just about owl size, and a bed below in case he tried to fly off.

“Here, take this.” She said, wadding up a pillowcase for it and shoving it inside as neatly as she could. “A nest for an owl.” She watched him move down her arm, struggling to keep it up, but when it sank to let him onto the bed, the damned bird just waddled up to the pillow she’d skinned and got nice and cozy.

Eyes narrow, Sarah supposed it was good enough and she ignored the shrieking as she headed back towards the door. She needed her own rest, needed to get to bed, and she closed the door and turned off the light on her old room and old rival.

In the morning, she was just hopeful that the voices in her kitchen downstairs were the TV. Toby was a sweet boy, and a smart one, and she’d come down to him watching TV and eating dry cereal before, but that day was not this one.

Slogging herself out of bed, having managed to discard her borrowed clothes forlornly for some of her own, Sarah came tiptoeing down the stairs to the foyer to be able to peek into her kitchen, and she was stunned by what she found.

In the brightness of the kitchen, where they’d since tucked a dining room table, was Toby, spoon deep in a bowl while his eyes stuck glued to his partner. Across from him, all in whites and creams, sat her worst nightmare.

He looked just like she remembered him.

His wild hair, looking more like feathers where it stuck up rebelliously at all angles. His eyes, angular and only accented by whatever conjuring he had done to perfect that look. His clothes, eerie, were pale and delicate except where shadows folded over one another, leaving edges looking burnt, caramelized, and added new facets of colour. While he was in white, it could have been any easy colour, and Sarah was mortified to stop staring and find him doing his staring too.

His eyes burned, too much a reminder, and her fingers curled together for support.

“Sarah,” He said, voice honeyed light but only playing coy. “how nice of you to join us. Your brother Toby was telling me all about what I’ve missed.” He shifted, cape artfully draped over his other side, and Sarah caught a peek of the bandages. How on earth did they still hold? “It’s been a long time, but I see my champion still rises to such tasks as this.” His smile offset his benign statement. “How sweet.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!” Toby called, chewing eagerly. “The bird man told me stories! And got m cereal with milk! It’s great!” he looked so happy, kicking his feet and happy to eat on unperturbed with his kidnapper and enemy sitting across from him. He looked quite happy, considering that he was in enemy clutches, and Sarah’s heart squeezed as the goblin king waved a hand to manically refill the glass beside Toby’s bowl.

Eyes shining, Toby turned his attention back to their unwanted guest. “Tell me more! I wanna hear more about the princess!” He guzzled the juice down happily as he stared over the brim of the glass, mystified by Jareth, and he leaned forward excitedly.

Sarah, pinned to the spot by the scene, saw the king slyly glance her way before he agreed to humor her brother, and her frown swept across her face obstinately.

“Of course, Toby, my boy,” He hummed, settling against the table more and smiling charmingly for the young boy. “I was… yes, the princess. ‘The princess charmed the king, charmed him so soundly that he had no reason to doubt her beauty and her faithfulness. Dreams, my boy, she was the stuff of dreams. She had all she could desire, every need for that king to satisfy, and the king would take to his knees to please her. She was beguiling” -Not that Toby would know what beguiling meant.- “and he was under her command. She need only call and she would have her dreams, and he would be there to make it so.”

Sarah went scarlet listening to him wax on, telling Toby a story, and she tried her best to ignore how her cheeks burned as he threw his twisted thought process in her face.

“One night, when her stepmother had forced her in to care for a screaming babe and had been particularly cruel, she could no longer stand it. She called on the goblins for help. The girl knew, that the Goblin King would keep the baby in his castle for ever and ever and ever, and turn it into a goblin, but she cared not. She cried; ‘Goblin King! Oh, Goblin King, wherever ye may be!’”

“Ye?” Toby, bless his heart, interrupted obliviously.

“You.” Jareth amended, smiling. “’Wherever __you__  may be, take this child of mine __far__ away from me!’” His grin stayed, aiming to bring a rise from the woman standing witness to the tale, but Sarah ground her teeth and refused to let it happen. She would not give the trickster a victory, least of all in her home. “He took it, took it far away to his castle to let her be free, and to love her in his way, but she was a foolish thing. She wounded the king, made him weak to her and used his powers, and then she cast him out of her graces.” His hands wove and waved, moving expressively for the gawking child, and he seemed happy to tell tales, even if his one arm was in that sling. “From her sight, from her eager thoughts, and from her very presence and memory.”

“Was the king sad?” Toby questioned in a hush, looking aghast at the idea. Sarah was just surprised Jareth had held his little attention span for so long without having to keep bringing him back. Even she had listened, as much as she hadn’t wanted to, and she could tell Jareth had more up his sleeve than stories. She moved, desperate to measure out coffee beans for some kind of normalcy, and she tried to shut her ears as Jareth went on.

“He was heartbroken.” He informed him, huffing softly. Sarah was glad she’d turned away to give them her back, even though she could feel Jareth staring holes in her, and she just sank into her task eagerly to avoid the stare making her insides wriggle. His eyes were too intense, too much this early, and she would avoid them as long as possible. “His subjects were close to her, adored and held fondly in cases, and she left her king to fade. Made a monster in her eyes, for her, and yet no words, no thoughts, or need of he who’d set his kingdom amok to provide her her stage.”

“That’s awful!” Toby whined, hands slapping the table top suddenly at the announcement. “Who’d do that? What a meanie!”

“It’d be even worse to miss the school bus, buddy, time to get dressed.” Sarah managed, reached out to tousle his hair as the coffee brewed.

“I’ll pack your lunch. Go get dressed.”

Toby, gawking, looked stunned to be brought to reality by the mundane task, and his eyes went to the clock with a groan.

“Now?” He weaseled, trying to squeeze more time from his sister. “Five more minutes? One more story?”

“Now, bud, time’s up. We’re running late already because I slept in.” She said, coaxing. “Hurry, or we’ve gotta run.” She could shoo him away breathlessly, anxious to get him away from the old villain, but she had little else to do but take a deep drought of coffee to delay their confrontation. She could only hide behind cream and sugar for so long.

“Fine boy.” She tried her best to ignore it, pretend he wasn’t there, but she could only endure so much. “it’s been a long time, but he’s as lively as ever. Still got my eyes.” He remarked casually, needling her.

“Toby doesn’t-” Sarah turned on him in anger, nearly missing the counter with her mug, but she was stunned to see him sitting there watching her intently, unmoved. She had to rethink it, say something smarter, and her throat worked hard to swallow as his mismatched eyes scrutinized her. “How are you suddenly like this here?” She muttered. “Human again. You were a bird.”

“Your rapscallions have been here just the same before.” He countered.

“My friends, yeah,” Sarah said dismissively. “this is different.”

“And how so? You seem so surprised by this,” And he waved his only good hand at himself, the other relaxed in the bandaged hold. “but it was you who brought me here.”

“For starters, you’re here in my kitchen having breakfast with my brother.” Sarah said, unable to help spitting it out tensely. “I’d hoped you’d fly away, or-”

“Disappear?” Jareth offered, interjecting. “Not this time. I’m no figment, Sarah. I’ve never been.” He rose from the chair, robes rustling and making that same feather shuffle, and Sarah caught herself staring again at the awe-inspiring figure.

Hearing silence upstairs, Sarah hurried to lean out of the kitchen and call up: “Brush your teeth! Get your bag!” before she dared settle back against the counter cautiously. “I don’t see why you can’t just disappear and leave me alone. You lost. I beat your labyrinth and saved Toby. What else is there?” She hardly found this fair, considering she needed to get on with her life, but she supposed she had no proper comparisons to make for fairness. She had just set her mug down when Jareth moved quickly away from the table, and she was at least glad that she had grown since her trials.

He could no longer tower over her like he once had.

“You,” He snorted, “are a liar. False.” She could have sworn his nose spewed smoke at the idea, the way the malice pitched in and out of his voice, and she was a little dizzy trying to keep up. He was a mess, underneath that calm, and her insides pulled themselves together before she threw it back at him and drew herself up.

“Me?” She questioned, hands rising to give his chest a little shove. “Excuse me, I just saved your life. I went down into the oubliette again, and I ran, and Hoggle probably just gave himself up for me to get you out of there!” She said, feeling colour rise in her cheeks again. “You called for me, and I came!”

“I waited, and you never called!” Jareth countered quickly, happy to snap at her now and turn to swirl his robes. His arm pained him, something in the way he angled his body told her so, but she wasn’t about to offer him any kindness now.

“What are you talking about?” She blurted, confused, and she sighed as she pushed her hair back from her face. “Make sense.”

“Sarah-” She was just glad Toby was here, happy to interrupt both of them, and the air went out of Jareth’s looming and posturing as Toby spoke over him. She went to him, happy to help him into his windbreaker, and she looked down at herself before she supposed it could be worse. “Sarah, are you okay?” He questioned, eyes wide as she put his lunch in his bag. Thank you, making lunches the night before.

“Sure, I’m okay.” She told him, smiling. “Let’s get you on that bus.” She needed to half force him out, seeing the bus coming, but in the end Toby was gone and Sarah had to deflate. She was alone with him, with no more distractions.

However, when she turned, Jareth had sunk back into his seat with her coffee cup for his own, and he looked dismal. Whatever had burned between them just now was ice cold.

“Come.” He commanded regally. “Sit.” The chair across from him moved out on its own. “We have much to discuss if you intend to play champion against those two. The magpie is a fool, but I don’t trust either of them more than a crow’s throw.”


End file.
